Maybe it's because my late (and much missed) dad was named Irv, but I've developed a soft spot for the cause of IRV (instant run-off voting) also known by its advocates as RCV (ranked choice voting).It's the deal where a voter, facing a ballot with multiple candidates, gets to rank them in order of preference. The "Instant runoff" occurs if no candidate receives a majority of first-preference ballots. Then votes for lower-finishing candidates are reassigned to the highest-finishing candidate still in the race, until someone has a majority mandate.

FairVote Minnesota, the leading advocate for RCV in MN, took last week's primary as an opportunity to note that the DFL primary was won by a candidate who did not receive a majority of the votes (Mark Dayton, 41 percent), and various other primaries were won by pluralities (one DFL state Senate primary was won with slightly less than 31 percent) and that current polls suggest that it is reasonably likely that in November Minnesota will, for the fourth straight time, elect a governor with less than a majority of the vote.

It that bothers you, FairVote hopes you will get behind IRV/RCV (it's already been adopted for Minneapolis and St. Paul municipal elections.)